Hi Colin,
two general tips for spotlighting are:
Try in the few hours after sunset, or the hour before dawn, when animals are
more active.
Shine the spotlight in line with your eyes; don't hold it at waist or chest
level, otherwise you won't be able to see the eye-shine, which is how most
spotlighted animals are noticed.
Also, don't try with anything less that a Dolphin torch, and preferably a
proper spotlight (one that runs off a motorbike/car battery in a backpack).
Anything else won't reach into the treetops. The only other thing to be
aware of is that there may be laws in your state or council limiting the use
of spotlights, and that local landowners can get very suspicious of people
spotlighting if they don't know them, or why they are doing it (I know of
people who have been bailed up at gunpoint by irate farmers who thought they
were our shooting possums).
As far as the ethics of spotlighting goes, some of the basic rules are:
don't spotlight an animal more than you have to, to identify it; don't
spotlight sensitive species during their breeding season; don't use a more
powerful lightbeam than you need to.
Cheers, Michael
-----Original Message-----
From: REID Colin
Sent: Monday, 23 September 2002 18:01
To:
Subject: Spotlighting
Hi all
What's the trick to spotlighting?
Does success depend on the weather, the phase of the moon, the time
of year, the time of night, the way the light is used or just plain luck??
Weather - dry? wet? cloudy? bright?
Moon - full? none? half?
Year - Spring. Summer, Autumn or Winter?
Time - just after dusk? after midnight?
Light - spotlight all trees? spotlight only obvious trees? wait for
movement or noise?
I've tried a couple of times, with little or no luck, looking for
owls and frogmouths. Someone out there must have experience in this
activity? !! Please advise.
P.S. I do have a large torch but don't have access to a tape
recorder or tapes, but will consider if a necessity.
P.S. How on earth does one see sugar gliders at night?? !!
> Colin Keen-to-wander-bush-at-night Reid
>
> Brisbane.
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